


Still The One

by Pixelatrix



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Angst, Divorce, Feels, Love, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-03
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-23 23:44:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2560172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/pseuds/Pixelatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Okay, so I was watching some crappy show on VH1, and I heard that song from the 90s by Shania Twain, You're Still The One.  For some reason, it got me thinking about the idea of a Shepard/Hackett story where they were married and got divorced.</p><p>Anyway, so this short little one-shot was created.</p><p>It is not related to any of my other stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still The One

**Author's Note:**

> Bioware owns all sadly.
> 
> Kudos, Subscriptions and Bookmarks are a drug that I love to receive. Comments are chocolate, they make everything better. I am thankful for all of them.
> 
> Shout out to my spectacular betas: CelticGrace & MissMeggo929
> 
> Hope you enjoy

_From: Judah Shepard_

_To: Steven Hackett_

_Subj: re: Divorce Papers._

_I’d hoped you’d change your mind, I don’t know why I thought you’d come to your senses._

_Why won’t you listen to me?_

_I did nothing wrong. I would never cheat on you. _

_I’m tired of arguing with you about it so I’ve signed the papers. I won’t ask you for a fucking thing. I just hope one day you realize the truth though it may be too late when you finally do._

_Tell your lawyer I’m not wasting any more of my time contesting the divorce. Take everything, I couldn’t fucking careless._

_I still love you._

_Judah_

* * *

 

Judah had met Steven what felt like ages ago when he was only a year out of boot camp and _Admiral Hackett_ was only Captain Hackett. It was an affair which could’ve ruined their careers; instead they’d married a year after the Blitz on Elysium. They had been happy. He had been happy.

And then right after Judah’s assignment to the _Normandy_ , it all fell apart. One seemingly small and innocent misunderstanding involving Alenko and the added pains of a long-distance marriage caused a massive fracture in their relationship. Steven seemed to struggle with such an absence making his heart grow suspicious.

He fought the divorce every step of the way, but Steven would never give him the chance to explain. Alenko had even offered to try to speak with the Admiral. Judah hadn’t seen the point.

It was too late.

Once Judah managed to stop Saren and the geth, he decided to sign the divorce papers. Why fight for someone who had given up already? He put his name down and broke his own damn heart with it.

Captain Anderson thankfully provided him with a ready distraction. The council wanted Judah and the _Normandy_ to hunt down the remaining geth to see if they were behind disappearing ships. He didn’t care as long as it got him away from everyone who wanted to know why he had gotten a divorce.

* * *

 

_Fuck them all._

_From: Kaidan Alenko_

_To: Steven Hackett_

_Subj: Your Husband._

_Judah died this morning when the Normandy was attacked. He sacrificed his life for his crew. He suffered great pain in losing his husband and I have no doubts that he died with a broken heart. He was a good man who didn’t deserve what happened to him._

_I never once touched Judah, aside from shaking his hand._

_Your husband respected his vows too much to ever stray from you. He loved you, Admiral. I imagine his last thoughts were of you.   He never stopped missing you._

_And you did not deserve him or his adoration._

_I can only hope you suffer endless sleepless nights when you finally come to understand what you threw away because of petty and unwarranted jealousy._

_Alenko_

* * *

 

The weight of loss didn’t sink in on Hackett until six months after the destruction of the _Normandy_. He had stepped into his office to find a message from his lawyer along with the finalized divorce decree. It had hit him directly in his heart when he saw the strong signature, _Judah Shepard._

His desperately whispered apologies fell on deaf ears since Judah was nothing more than a marble memorial on Arcturus. They’d never found his body. Hackett was left with so many unsaid things that at times he felt he would drown in them.

He had a picture of Judah sitting on his desk, the short, spiked brown hair and light hazel eyes, the strong jaw covered in a day’s worth of stubble. Hackett imagined so many chances to do it all over again and then reality would come back to him. He had nothing left, but a picture and a world of regret.

* * *

 

_From: David Anderson_

_To: Steven Hackett_

_Subj: Judah._

_He’s alive._

_Don’t ask me how, Cerberus was involved._

_You’ve got a second chance, Steven. I don’t know if he’ll give you one, but it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?_

_He’s meeting me on the Citadel in a few days after he visits Alchera. Perhaps you’d like to pick up the missing dogtags in person?_

_David_

* * *

 

Returning from the dead had done a hell of a number on Judah’s head.   He had only one thought on his mind when he died; it was the same thought when he awoke on the Lazarus station. The one thing he’d never gotten himself to give up on.

 _How the hell can I get my husband back?_  

He was stubborn.

He was _Commander Fucking Shepard._

After visiting Alchera and the remnants of his beloved ship, Judah told Joker to head to the Citadel. He might as well meet up with Anderson and see what had changed in the last two years. He held a wedding ring in his hand loosely as he sat in his quarters.

Judah had been hunting through the wreckage to find dogtags when he’d come across what appeared to be a small memorial. Someone had dragged a few rocks together and erected a make-shift tombstone of sorts. The message on the stone had worn off, but the glint of metal sitting on top of it caught his attention. The inscription inside it took his breath away. It was Hackett’s ring.

_His wedding ring._

Of the message on the stone, there were really only two phrases he could make out—‘I am so sorry’ and ‘I love you.’ Judah tried not to let his hopes get up. He couldn’t help wonder if two years had done anything to change his husband’s mind.

He was still holding the ring several hours later when he strolled into Anderson’s office only to find the wrong Alliance officer sitting behind his desk. “ _Steven._ ”

“Judah.” Hackett seemed as lost for words as he felt. “Anderson told me you were alive, I’ll admit to thinking the strain of dealing with Udina on a daily basis had finally caused him to snap.”

Judah smiled though it was strained by the pressure building on his chest. He held up his hand with the ring resting on his palm. “I found this on Alchera.”

“Ahh.” Hackett inched closer, but didn’t reach for him. “I thought I might feel closer to you with it there. I had two years to realize what a damn fool I was to not listen to you and _believe_ you. I was a stubborn fool.”

“Yes.”

Hackett stared down at the ring while Judah felt as if his heart might come to a shuddering halt. “I am _so_ damn sorry. I’ve been told rather emphatically that I didn’t deserve you. And I am _so_ sorry about everything. It was my fault, not yours.”

“ _Yes._ ” Judah was finding breathing difficult, let alone finding more of a vocabulary beyond single words.

“Do I even stand a chance?”

Judah went from heart stopping to racing out of his control. “I…”

“I’m a fool to even ask.” Hackett reached out to close Judah’s fingers around the ring. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

He didn’t get his body to work until Hackett was almost at the door. “You’re still the one.”

Hackett froze mid-step and glanced over his shoulder. “Judah?”

“Never stopped loving you.” Judah strode quickly across the room until he was crowding Hackett against the closed door with his hands resting on either side of his husband’s shoulders. “Never once. You’ll always be the one I fucking want.”

“I love you.” Hackett murmured before they kissed after what felt to Judah like a thousand years. “Will you marry me again?”

“No,” Judah smiled broadly. “This time, _Admiral_ , you’re going to marry me.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Face Reference for Judah Shepard: http://pixelatrix.tumblr.com/post/101633137296/adonisarchive-ali-gordon


End file.
